The EOP-MGP Mentoring Program provides faculty teams with experienced coaching to support their progress throughout the program. Each faculty team is matched with two qualified mentors who are committed to supporting them through successful pilots. Mentors provide 6 weeks of guidance on the curricula development process as well as on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) principles. See below for a list of mentors with their bios.
Yewande Abraham
Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering Technology, Environmental Management and Safety
Rochester Institute of Technology
Dr. Yewande Abraham is an Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering and Construction Management at the Department of Civil Engineering Technology Environmental Management and Safety (CETEMS) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). She is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional in building operations and maintenance and an associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). She joined RIT in 2018, prior to that, she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Civil Engineering from Cardiff University, Wales, United Kingdom and completed her Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering (Construction option) at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania. She has industry and research experience in the construction industry in the US and internationally.
Cindy Anderson
Strategy Consultant
The Lemelson Foundation
Cindy Anderson, MS, Engineering for One Planet (EOP) Strategy Consultant with The Lemelson Foundation, is honored to be a collaborative partner on the EOP initiative since its inception, co-author of the EOP Framework and framework companion teaching guides, and an active EOP Network Member. Cindy is the founder and CEO of Alula Consulting which specializes in innovative sustainability- and online-focused research and curriculum projects for academic institutions, non-profits, government, and corporations. She has taught thousands of people through courses and workshops, around the world and online, in the fields of biology, sustainability, and biomimicry. Cindy holds a MS from Oregon State University, a MEd from Griffith University (Queensland, Australia), and a BSc in biology from the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada).
Amanda Bao
Associate Professor, Civil Engineering Technology, Environmental Management and Safety
Rochester Institute of Technology
Amanda Bao is an Associate Professor and Program Director in Civil Engineering Technology at Rochester Institute of Technology. She got her Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder, USA, in 2006. Dr. Bao started teaching at Rochester Institute of Technology in 2010 and she regularly teaches structural engineering courses. Prior to RIT, she worked as a bridge structural engineer at Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. and Michael Baker International, Inc. in Denver, Colorado, and she is a licensed professional engineer in Colorado and New York, USA. Dr. Amanda Bao won the 2021 Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching at RIT. Dr. Bao has been actively involved in engineering education research since 2011, including digital learning, active learning and intensive collaboration with industry. Dr. Bao develops a teaching website: http://baoteachingcet.com/ and opens a YouTube Structural Design Teaching channel to post screencasts to supplement traditional lecture-type classes, and she also created hands-on active learning modules to improve teaching and learning effectiveness. In addition to education research, Dr. Bao conducts research in the areas of bridge resiliency and sustainability, innovative construction materials and evaluation of aging infrastructure. She has extensive research experience in finite element modeling and lab testing of structures and published more than 20 research papers.
Lisa Bosman
Associate Professor in Technology Leadership and Innovation
Purdue University
Dr. Lisa Bosman, PhD in Industrial Engineering, is an Associate Professor at Purdue University. As the founding director of iAGREE Labs (Inclusive, Applied, and Grounded Research in Entrepreneurially-Minded Education), she aims to empower action via real-world solutions and evidence-based practices. Her STEM education research interests include renewable energy, entrepreneurial mindset, competency-based learning, self-regulated learning, transdisciplinary education, integrating the humanities into engineering education, workforce development and faculty professional development. Find out more at www.iagree.org.
Medha Dalal
Associate Director, Scholarly Initiatives, Learning and Teaching Hub, FSE Learning and Teaching Hub
Arizona State University
Medha Dalal is an Associate Director of Scholarly Initiatives in the Fulton School of Engineering. In this role at the learning and teaching hub, she collaborates with engineering departments and faculty on student success initiatives that are informed by evidence-based teaching strategies. Medha also works as an assistant research professor in the STEER Lab affiliated with the Engineering Education Systems and Design program. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Learning, Literacies, and Technologies from the Arizona State University, a Master’s degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. Her research interests span three related areas: democratization of engineering education, ways of thinking, and professional development.
Stefanie Koehler
Innovation Strategist, Design Scientist and Visual Facilitator
Green Crane Innovation
Ms. Stefanie Koehler, MA, is an Innovation Strategist, Design Scientist and Visual Facilitator at Green Crane Innovation. She offers sustainability-focused design and visual thinking to solve business challenges alongside key partners. Additionally, Dr. Koehler has expertise in graphic facilitation, graphic recording, design thinking jams/charrettes, and other unique event and learning experiences. She uses critical listening, real-time synthesis and rapid sketching to help her clients illustrate big picture ideas and context. Ms. Koehler’s goal is to help amplify messages, clarify ideas, vision, and programs to design a more sustainable future with her clients.
Ben Linder
Professor
Olin College
Ben Linder, Ph.D., is a design educator, creator, and investigator at Olin College where he is a professor of design and mechanical engineering. He focuses on participatory design, sustainable design, and design for impact within the broader realms of social and civic innovation, developing and sharing ecologically and socially just design practices to realize care and flourishing with communities. He regularly teaches collaborative design, sustainable design, biomimicry, and community-engaged design. He is a co-founder and the director of the Affordable Design and Entrepreneurship Program (ADE), a co-lead organizer of the International Development Design Summit (IDDS), and a co-founder and co-lead organizer of the International Development Innovation Network (IDIN).
Irene Mena
Assistant Professor
University of Pittsburgh
Irene Mena, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the Director of the Swanson School’s First-Year Engineering Program at the University of Pittsburgh. She is an industrial engineer and received her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University. Dr. Mena is responsible for implementing first-year engineering curriculum content, pedagogy, and improvements; coordinating with other faculty teaching first-year engineering courses; and organizing the Swanson School’s annual First-Year Engineering Conference, in which all first-year engineering students develop a professional-level research paper and present it to their peers at the end of their second semester. In addition to teaching first-year engineering courses, she teaches a social entrepreneurship course with a focus on sustainability. She also has experience in faculty development, including helping prepare new faculty for their new teaching responsibilities, and observing faculty to provide feedback on their teaching.
Jenny Mueller
Associate Professor
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Jennifer Mueller, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. She graduated with her BS in Environmental Engineering from Northwestern University and with her MS and PhD in Civil Engineering with an emphasis on Environmental River Mechanics from Colorado State University. Her graduate work focused on exchange of surface water and groundwater, as well as nitrate uptake, in streams with varying degrees of rehabilitation. Dr. Mueller’s areas of interest include water quality, sustainable design, watershed hydrology, and river hydraulics. Current projects involve pedagogical studies for incorporating sustainability and ethical decision making in undergraduate engineering education, with an emphasis on touchpoints throughout the four-year curriculum. Dr. Mueller especially loves mentoring students through capstone senior design projects, where she emphasizes the need for sustainable design through all phases of the design process. She is also the faculty advisor for the student organization, Engineers for a Sustainable World, as well as for the academic minor in sustainability program.
Claire Nelson
Founder and Chief Ideation Leader
The Futures Forum
Claire Nelson, Ph.D., is the Founder and Chief Ideation Leader of The Futures Forum. Listed among Forbes Top 50 Female Futurists, she is a thought leader in strategic foresight and integral development consulting, with a particular interest in global challenges. An industrial engineer by training, she serves as Convening Chair for Global Working Group on Sustainability Engineering Body of Knowledge and Editor of Human Futures Magazine. She is also Ideation Leader and President of the Board for Caribbean Development Foresight Institute, a think-do tank based in the Caribbean.
Adebayo Ogundipe
Professor
James Madison University
Adebayo “Bayo” Ogundipe, Ph.D., is Professor and Department Head of Engineering at James Madison University. He has worked on the development of tools and protocols for assessing sustainable engineering designs using life-cycle assessment and industrial ecology methods. His work has resulted in research publications on environmental and sustainable engineering. He is the co-author of a textbook on sustainable engineering design as well as multiple guidance documents on the topic. His scholarly interests have expanded to include the development of synergistic activities between engineering and non-engineering disciplines with the goal of interdisciplinary holistic approaches to problem solving. His ongoing cross disciplinary work involves international collaborations aimed at developing appropriate educational modules to help engineering students develop global cultural competencies. Dr. Ogundipe earned his Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos in Nigeria, followed by a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Environmental Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, NJ.
Fethiye Ozis
Assistant Teaching Professor
Carnegie Mellon University
Fethiye Ozis, Ph.D., is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the civil and environmental engineering department at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Ozis holds a B.S. in environmental engineering from the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. She is a licensed Professional Engineer, Environmental, in Arizona. Before joining CMU, Dr. Ozis was a faculty member at Northern Arizona University and at University of Southern California. Dr. Ozis enjoys every dimension of being an engineering educator, and teaches across the curriculum from first year to graduate level courses in environmental engineering. Her own intersectionality led to her passion in promoting and researching pathways into engineering especially for underrepresented minority groups. Dr. Ozis conducts research in engineering education, related to classroom and innovative pedagogical strategies. She has mentored several undergraduate students to develop proposals and pursue award winning research on novel biotechnologies for water and wastewater treatment. She has been an ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) Fellow since 2016, and currently serves as a mentor. Dr. Ozis earned multiple teaching, research and service awards from Northern Arizona University and the American Society for Engineering Education.
Noe Vargas Hernandez
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
UTexas Rio Grande Valley
Dr. Vargas Hernandez is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at UTexas Rio Grande Valley with expertise on product innovation and entrepreneurship, design thinking, sustainable design, biomedical design, and design education. He has ample experience teaching design and innovation to student teams currently at UTRGV, and previously at UT El
Paso and Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently leading an effort to promote Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the departmental and College levels at UTRGV and collaborating with the College of Business. Dr. Vargas has various patents, and over 20 years of expertise and leadership in engineering design, creativity, and innovation.
Katelyn Virga
Sustainability Engineering Manager
Boeing
Katelyn has 12 years of industry experience and 3 years of sustainability engineering leadership at Boeing Commercial. At Boeing, she leads a product development R&D team that develops new technologies to support Boeing’s goals for sustainable aviation. These new technologies prioritize the planet and people and will support our goals toward a decarbonized future.
Andrea L. Welker
Dean, School of Engineering
The College of New Jersey (TCNJ)
Andrea L. Welker is Dean of the School of Engineering at TCNJ. Prior to TCNJ, Welker worked at Villanova University, where she began her faculty career in 1999. At Villanova, she most recently served as associate dean for academic affairs for the College of Engineering, a position she held for six years. She was a co-founder of the College of Engineering’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, which introduced professional development opportunities on inclusive pedagogy and intergenerational communication and secured funding for students from underrepresented groups to travel to professional conferences, among other initiatives. At the national level, Welker has been deeply engaged with ASEE, including serving as chair of the Civil Engineering Division. She has also been a national leader for the Kern Engineering Entrepreneurship Network. In 2021, she accepted the ABET Innovation Award for Career Compass professional development program.
Hadley Willman
Assistant Director at the Initiative for Climate Leadership and Resilience
CalPoly, San Luis Obispo
Hadley Willman is the Assistant Director at the Initiative for Climate Leadership and Resilience at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and Conference Manager at Engineers for a Sustainable World. She is the Creator and former Director of the University Climate Ambassador (UCA) program at the U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce. Her academic background is in environmental management and protection, while her professional background is in sustainability literacy and engagement. She has led the launch of Cal Poly’s third sustainability literacy assessment (which was delivered to over 1,000 students) and subsequent research to determine trends in students’ sustainability knowledge and literacy needs over time. At Cal Poly and at over a dozen campuses via the UCA program, she has pursued standardized sustainability curriculum in the form of university-wide sustainability learning outcomes, general education course requirements, and more. She has led 3 climate conferences and over a dozen other gatherings that have amplified sustainability learning, engagement, and collaboration for over 2,000 climate leaders.
Allison Wolf
Sr. Program Coordinator, Sustainability Teachers’ Academies
Arizona State University
As the senior program coordinator ASU’s Sustainability Teachers’ Academies, Allison oversees all logistics programming. She supported the logistics, workshop design, and facilitation of the EOP Faculty Fellowship from 22-24. Using experience as a former high school teacher, she uses humanizing pedagogy and a focus on relationships to work with the program managers in her department to create professional development opportunities for K-12 educators. This position allows her to pair her passion for sustainability education with her skills in facilitation, administration, and evaluation.
Ro Worthy
Assistant Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Kennesaw State University
Dr. Ro Worthy is currently the Assistant Chair for the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Kennesaw State University. In addition to her administrative role, she remains actively engaged in teaching and conducts research with a focus on increasing the representation of minorities in Engineering. Before joining the university, Dr. Worthy served as a Research Assistant at Vanderbilt University, contributing to a group funded by the Department of Energy. Her primary research focused on the long-term evaluation of near-surface waste disposal under climate change impacts at nuclear waste sites. With a background as an environmental engineer/planner at Gresham, Smith, and Partners, as well as General Motors Corporation, Dr. Worthy brings a wealth of industry experience to her academic roles. She has a proven track record of addressing critical environmental challenges. In her recent endeavors, Dr. Worthy is actively collaborating with the Lemelson Foundation to institutionalize the Engineering for One Planet framework at Kennesaw State University. This initiative reflects her commitment to sustainability and innovative engineering practices.